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Atlanta Braves: Three takeaways from Kolby Allard’s debut

By Benjamin Chase

ATLANTA, GA - JULY 31: Kolby Allard #36 of the Atlanta Braves throws a pitch in the first inning of his MLB pitching debut during the game against the Miami Marlins at SunTrust Park on July 31, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - JULY 31: Kolby Allard #36 of the Atlanta Braves throws a pitch in the first inning of his MLB pitching debut during the game against the Miami Marlins at SunTrust Park on July 31, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images) /
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Atlanta Braves
ATLANTA, GA – JULY 31: Pitcher Kolby Allard #36 of the Atlanta Braves smiles after hitting a single in his first MLB at-bat in the second inning during the game against the Miami Marlins on July 31, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images) /

2. The boy was having a good time!

I cannot be the only person who watched that game and was smiling like an idiot as Kolby stood at first base in the second inning with two outs after having looped a single to center field, gleaming like the cat who had just eaten the canary.

Truly, as the game wore on, during intense moments, it was frequent to see a smile across Allard’s face, even with the bases loaded in the top of the 3rd inning in a 1-0 game at the time, a time that often a rookie making the first start of his major league career would crack and crumble, serving up a gopher ball on a breaking pitch that didn’t break, or overthrowing a pitch that ended up at the backstop, allowing in a run.

Kolby did neither of those things. He got former Atlanta Braves infielder Martin Prado to ground out to first, covered the bag well, and was out of the inning.

On that note, an added takeaway…

2a. He did all the little things right!

Kolby’s single in the second inning would end up being his only official at bat – not because the team never got back to him in the lineup. On the contrary, Allard came to the plate three times.

Both of his other times at the plate, Kolby laid down perfect sacrifice bunts (he even got to come around and score on one after a Marlins error). You would have to go back to the guys who did the first “Chick Dig the Long Ball” commercial to find a time that the Atlanta Braves have had their pitchers well-versed in the art of moving a runner up and over, but Kolby did it twice very well.

He also covered the base well in the second inning on Prado’s grounder, and if you paid attention on plays, Allard was always moving on defense. He was backing up the catcher on a possible through from the outfield that was cut off in one instance. He was backing up third base on a play from right field in another instance.

These may be things that are fundamentally sound parts of the game that we should EXPECT a player to do. This was a 20-year-old kid,a former first-rounder in his major league debut. Plenty of guys with similar marks would have forgotten those basics, but not Allard.

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